Fire forces evacuation in Mill Canyon

A fast-moving fire forced about a dozen people to evacuate Sunday and smudged the skies with smoke.

The blaze had burned more than 600 acres by early Sunday night in a canyon northeast of Davenport.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office evacuated about a dozen residents and farmers in the area of Mill Canyon, a steep timbered canyon that opens into the Spokane River about a dozen miles west of the Long Lake Dam.

No buildings had been lost.

Fire dispatcher Debi Smith of the state Department of Natural Resources said the fire started in the afternoon. About 10 teams of firefighters were trying to control the blaze.

The smoke was visible across Spokane as firefighters scrambled to make sure the blaze didn’t crest the canyon and begin burning farmland and pasture.

The cause was unknown. Wheat harvest doesn’t start for about another week in the Davenport area, virtually assuring the fire wasn’t started by combines or grain trucks.

As Mill Canyon burned, 369 firefighters on the Elmer City Fire near Grand Coulee Dam had that blaze about 80 percent contained. It had spread across 1,930 acres as of Sunday night, said DNR spokeswoman Josie Williams.

Investigators said Sunday the fire was started by a person. The exact cause and whether the fire was set deliberately remain unknown. It was burning about three miles from the dam and one mile southeast of Nespelem.

One small building was lost to the fire, which burned in grasslands, bush and some forested areas.

Fire crews spent much of Sunday mopping up with the help of two helicopters that dumped buckets of water.

Williams said cougars and bears were seen along the fire’s perimeter, along with rattlesnakes.

Road closures in the area have been lifted.

Firefighters reported good progress against a fire near Cle Elum on Sunday, allowing more than 100 people to return to their homes.

“Everything’s looking up,” fire spokesman Troy Kinghorn said. “The incident commanders are feeling more and more confident.”

The Elk Heights fire had been estimated at 600 acres, but better mapping Sunday night showed it at 370 acres with 50 percent containment, said Cindy Reichelt, an incident information officer.

The fire, believed to have been set by a serial arsonist on Friday, forced the evacuation of more than 200 residences, though many of those were unoccupied seasonal homes. Fire officials estimated Sunday night that more than 100 people were displaced.

“I am confident that people can return home safely while we continue to locate and mop up hot spots in the interior of the fire,” said Dave Johnson, incident commander for Washington state.

Strong winds failed to spread the fire Saturday night, Kinghorn said, enabling firefighters to make significant progress.

The fire burned 5 miles northwest of Thorp, between state Highway 10 and Interstate 90.

On Sunday, erratic winds pushed the fire west and southwest toward established containment lines. It continued to burn in pockets of heavy fuels throughout steep canyons north of the evacuated area.

About 260 firefighters were assigned to the fire. They reinforced fire lines and mopped up along the west flank Sunday to keep the fire from spreading through grass and fields adjacent to Interstate 90.

The fire was the 11th blaze started by a firebug in central Washington’s Kittitas County in the past two months. It had burned two homes, a workshop, a bridge along the John Wayne Trail and several power poles.

No injuries were reported.

A group of three fires burning in Central Washington, west of Lake Chelan, burned 38,060 acres Sunday. The Pot Peak-Sisi Ridge complex was being fought jointly by more than 740 firefighters.

The largest of the three was the Deep Harbor fire at 22,200 acres with zero containment. Pot Peak held steady at 15,500 acres and was 85 percent contained. Sisi Ridge was 360 acres, 90 percent contained.

The lightning-caused fires burned two recreational buildings and at one point threatened the community of Stehekin. Estimated cost was $13.6 million.